Bezzecchi dominates for Qatar MotoGP pole
Aprilia MotoGP rider Marco Bezzecchi took a commanding pole position in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix, beating title favourite Marc Marquez by a quarter of a second.
Marquez was three tenths off Bezzecchi after the initial Q2 runs, and struggled to make a meaningful dent in his advantage afterwards as Bezzecchi improved narrowly to a final 1m50.028s.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, the Friday pace-setter, will join the pair on the front row, while the second row will feature Trackhouse Aprilia duo Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura - and Marquez's team-mate Pecco Bagnaia between them.
Johann Zarco was Honda's sole representative in Q2 and took an encouraging seventh, ahead of Pedro Acosta. Acosta earned the ire of Jorge Martin, who felt Acosta didn't do a good enough job getting out of the way late on.
Acosta's streak of 61 consecutive qualifying victories over his team-mates had been in danger after Friday - but was rescued and extended to 62 as he navigated Q1 and his team-mate Brad Binder compromised his session by crashing at Turn 1 on his first push lap.
Fermin Aldeguer, Enea Bastianini and Martin slotted in between Acosta and Binder.
Franco Morbidelli used fellow VR46 protege Luca Marini as a reference point on his fastest lap, but was still short of picking off Acosta for the final Q2 spot, settling for 13th on the grid.
Marini was a tenth down and will have Gresini stand-in Iker Lecuona - on a Ducati GP26 this time instead of a Ducati GP25 - right behind him on row five, followed by the struggling LCR Honda rookie Diogo Moreira and newcomer Jake Dixon, impressively just a tenth off Moreira.
With the Yamaha withdrawal reducing the grid to 18 bikes, Maverick Vinales was 18th and last, continuing to struggle with his injured shoulder.
Qualifying results
1 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) 1m50.028s
2 Marc Marquez (Ducati) +0.266s
3 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.299s
4 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.429s
5 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +0.564s
6 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.568s
7 Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +0.707s
8 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +0.844s
9 Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) +0.862s
10 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +0.973s
11 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) +1.036s
12 Brad Binder (KTM) +1.876s
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13 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +0.184s to Q2
14 Luca Marini (Honda) +0.263s
15 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +0.300s
16 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +0.417s
17 Jake Dixon (Honda) +0.534s
18 Maverick Vinales (Tech3 KTM) +0.904s
